We ask that those who proclaim
the truth may know freedom and liberty in the ministry of thy
word. We pray that they may see the effect of thy Holy Spirit
in them and are working through the words preached. And we ask,
Lord, that there may be those gathered into the sheepfold of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that thou continue to build thy church
and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. We pray
for thy church worldwide and for each who will minister this
day. Do undertake for them and bless
them and each of thy people who will meet together to sit under
the Word. Do grant that humble heart to
receive the truth. We pray, Lord, for our persecuted
brothers and sisters in Christ. We ask that they may be protected
today as they meet together. Do bless those who minister to
them and grant them faithfulness and boldness and that determination
and love and compassion needed. We ask that they may be kept
safe. We pray for those who are in prison. Lord, do bless them
and do help them and provide for their every need. Do grant
them a measure of comfort and peace within their soul and do
provide them with thy word. We pray for those agencies who
seek to minister to the persecuted church. Do help them and provide
for them, guide them and direct them, we pray, to those who are
truly in need, truly in dire straits, Lord, we ask
that they may know thy help and provision and safety to be given
to them. We pray for those who labour
day in and day out for the cause of Christ. Bless and be with
them, we pray. Help those who work in the chaplaincies,
in the hospitals and in the In the prisons we pray that help
may be granted to them, that they may be guided with the correct
words to speak, that they may know the strength and help of
thy Holy Spirit. We pray, Lord, for the many difficulties
that are taking place throughout the world and as we see the uncertainty
regarding Ukraine and Russia and the events that have taken
place in America, Lord, we know that all of these things will
work out in accordance with Thine own will and we pray that Thy
will may be done and Lord we ask that that grant us that submission
to thy will and we pray that if it could please thee that
peace may be brought that the war may cease that lives may
be spared we pray for our fellow brethren who are on that in those
war-torn lands we pray for safety to be given to them We ask, Lord,
that they may be kept as the apple of thine eye and we pray
for those who minister to them. We think of Mr Philip Hopkins
and the labours which he undertakes to provide the aid to those near
the front line. Lord, we pray for help to be
given to them. and that those who receive the
aid may also come to receive the truth of thy holy word and
to find safety in the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that all endeavors
done in thy name may draw people to the Lord Jesus Christ and
those who are labouring together in the
harvest, Lord, that Thou bless them and encourage them and provide
for their every need. We pray, Lord, for this land
of ours, Lord, to undertake and bless our leaders, guide them
in the decisions that they make and We pray that their minds
may be drawn to thy holy word, that they may be brought to conviction
over their sin and brought to true sorrow and repentance over
their errors and their sinful tendencies, their sinful leadership
styles. And Lord, we pray that there
may be a moving of thy Holy Spirit over this land of ours, We ask
that thou stir up the church to true spirit-wrought prayer
and that we may witness a moving of thy Holy Spirit to gather
in many under the sound of the gospel and to find safety in
the Lord Jesus Christ. We We pray, Lord, for this town
of Hastings and for our immediate neighbours, Lord, we pray for
them that they also may know the joy of being knit together
to thee through the Lord Jesus, the joy of their sins being forgiven. We pray that thy spirit and our
influence in this area, Lord, may draw people to the Lord Jesus
Christ. We pray, Lord, for us as a church,
and as a congregation to encourage us week by week as we meet together,
to bless us with fellowship, to knit us together in the unity
of the Spirit and the bond of peace, to help us in our Christian
lives, to help us in our love one for another, to grant us
that attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ, to deem each other greater
than ourselves, who made himself a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death and Lord we ask that that mind may
be in us, that we may be brought to that true humility and a true
love for one another. We ask that we may know thy blessing
and help throughout this new month and we pray that we may
be blessed together as we meet around thy table later on this
day. We thank thee for the offerings
that have been given throughout the month and we pray Lord that
thou help us to use those for thy honour and for thy glory
and for the running of this chapel and church and we pray that thou
bless each one who has given in love to the cause of Christ. We pray then Lord that thou be
with us now. Remember David as he ministers this day, do grant
him freedom and liberty as he proclaims the word. Do grant
him journey and mercies as he travels here and there and we
ask that he may know the the help of God as he proclaims the
truth of thy holy word. To be with Keith later on this
day to help him and strengthen him, encourage him in his labours
and we ask Lord that he also may know the freedom and liberty
and help of thy Holy Spirit. We pray that, Lord, that thou
be with those who are unwell, Lord, unable to be with us today.
We pray that they may know thy healing touch and restoration. We pray for those unable to be
with us. We think of Chris Hart and her
recent operation. We pray for healing mercies to
be granted to her. We pray for Crystal. We thank
thee, Lord, that there was not a break, but we pray that help
may be granted and the pain subdued and healing to be given. We pray and we give thee thanks
for those who are here who have not been here and through sickness
and we pray Lord that thou bless us now as we meet together around
thy word. We ask that thou help me once
again to speak in thy name to draw near and open up my understanding. We ask Lord that thou Pour in
that I may be enabled to pour out, and that we may be blessed
in thy presence. Do forgive us of our many sins,
and make up where we fail, and we give thee thanks, Lord, for
the little ones. Do gather them in thy arms this day, we pray,
as we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. May the Lord help us once again
in singing from Gaspers hymn number 768. Jesus, shepherd of
the sheep, Thou thy flock does feed and
keep, Sweets his pasture does prepare, Watches them with tender
care. Hymn number 768 to the tune 450.
? Jesus was just a scribbler ?
? Purchased and withtaken ? ? He did sheep with his own blood
? ? He made love and he alone ? ? He made war and he alone
? you. Seeking once again the help of
the Lord, I'd like us to turn together to the chapter that
we read together, the Gospel according to Matthew, and chapter
11, and the text you'll find in verse 12. And from the days
of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence, and the violent take it by force. It's one of those texts that
when you read over them as you're reading through the scriptures,
you come to them, maybe you think a little while what it might
mean and then maybe you pass over and you come to it again
another day and you read it, you look at it, you pass over
it and there are words within it that don't sort of add up
that don't sort of seem compatible with each other. The kingdom
of heaven and John the Baptist preaching and the kingdom of
heaven suffering violence and violence take it by force and
those words don't seem to be compatible with each other. The
kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of Christ the kingdom that was
ushered in by the Lord Jesus Christ, a spiritual kingdom,
a kingdom of peace, a kingdom of love, a kingdom of grace,
a spiritual kingdom that is an eternal kingdom which will never
end. And then you have words of violence
and the violent. We know that those who are in
the kingdom of Christ are those who have had their hearts transformed
and they're no longer violent and aggressive people. They've been born again by the
Spirit of God. And so it's an unusual verse
and the usual grouping of words that have been put together to
make up our text. But as we look at it we will
see that it is in one sense that multitudes came out to listen
to the preaching of John the Baptist. Multitudes came out
to listen to the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and multitudes
came out to listen to the preaching of the apostles and until now,
until today, There are still multitudes who come, if we take
the whole world as it is, multitudes come to hear the preaching of
the Word of God, the preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Multitudes are brought to desperation. over their sin. Multitudes, as
it were, storm the gates of heaven in desperation, seeking for the
salvation of their soul when they have been convicted and
brought to knowledge of their need of Christ and that they
are outside of this kingdom. Nothing can stop them. They are,
as it were, violent, aggressive, desperate, determined. Like Jacob, I will not let thee
go. except thou bless me' and so
the words are compatible and the words fit together of those
who are under conviction of their sin and desperate to lay hold
of Christ, desperate to enter into the kingdom of the Lord
Jesus Christ and John, as we looked at last week, the forerunner
of the Lord Jesus Christ, a voice crying in the wilderness, a man
who saw the Lord Jesus Christ in his preaching, pointed others
to him and said, behold the man of God that takes away the sin
of the world. And we may look at him and think,
You know, what a man, a man so filled with faith and so filled
with the power of the Holy Spirit that was done like him, owed
to be like him. Then we see at the beginning
of our chapter how this great man of God, the forerunner of
the Lord Jesus Christ, due to the providential circumstances
of him being in prison, is now in a desperate state. He's now
sending his disciples to the Lord Jesus Christ with a question. He's come to
a position of doubt. He's come to a position of unbelief. All that he had experienced at
first had been almost washed away by the prison cell and the
injustice that he felt. Art thou he that should come
or do we look for another? And how often it is, isn't it,
that we may have had great experiences in life. We may have had great
spiritual experiences, blessed under the Word. We may have had
times in our Christian walk where we've almost been so filled with
faith that we can see heaven itself. We can lay hold of Christ
as a visible friend. You may have had sweet experiences
under the ministry or as we were reading the Word of God or in
prayer or meditation as maybe we walked in the countryside
considering the greatness of God and the wonder of God and
the beauty of salvation. We may have been elevated like
the Apostle Paul. As he says, I was taken up into
the third heaven. but then how often we are brought
into times of difficulty and all those experiences that we
have are just thoughts to be clutched at which seem to vanish
away like a dream. And John, he had literally seen
the Lord Jesus Christ. He had seen people coming to
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and he had witnessed a great
moving Yet when his circumstances changed he began to question,
art thou he that should come or should we look for another?
And so in our times of unbelief, our times of being brought low
we're able to offer up those prayers almost of doubt. Am I really made a Christian? Art thou my saviour? Have my sins been washed away? And look at the answer that the
Lord Jesus Christ gives to his forerunner. Go and show John
again. Is that what you need today? Do you need the Lord Jesus to
come and show you again? that you are truly one of his.
Your faith has been brought so low due to the providential circumstances
that you're in despair. You don't really know what to
do and you don't feel like you can even lift up your eyes to
heaven because you feel so ashamed that you've forgotten all the
pathway of the Lord, all the blessings of the Lord that he's
done to you. Look what he says, go and tell
John again. those things which ye do hear
and see, the fulfilling of all the prophecies regarding the
Lord Jesus, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,
and the poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed
is he who shall not be offended in me. And that's what John needed.
He needed that reminder, that encouragement, all that he had
forgotten. He had seen and witnessed those
things taking place, but he needed that new reminder, that encouragement
in the faith to press on. And then the Lord Jesus begins
to explain to those round about of the greatness of John the
Baptist. And so as Christ elevates John
the Baptist, yet John the Baptist in his own esteems, in his own
mind, has lost all faith. And so Christ sends him a message. Go and show John again those
things which you do hear and see. multitudes had come to hear the
preaching of John the Baptist. In Matthew chapter 3 it says,
In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of
Judea and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the Prophet
Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And the
same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle
about his loins, and his meat was locust and wild honey. Then
went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region
round about Jordan, and were baptised of him in the Jordan,
confessing their sins. And so John, as he began to preach,
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Multitudes came to listen to
his ministry. They understood that he was a
the prophet of the Lord, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus
Christ and he began to preach about the kingdom of heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ as he began
his ministry also began to use the same words as John the Baptist,
repent ye or you repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Chapter four and verse 17. And from that time Jesus began
to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Throughout the book of Matthew,
Matthew is really the book of the kingdom. 47 times he speaks
about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom
of the gospel, the gospel of the kingdom. Turning people away
from the physical kingdom that had been throughout the Old Testament
and pointing them to this kingdom that would have no end. Remember
the Lord Jesus, or King David was told that his throne, there
would be one who would reign forever. His throne would be
established forever. His kingdom would be established
and there would be one who would come. which would sit on the
throne forever. And that one was the Lord Jesus
Christ, the King of Kings, who made himself a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death and pointed people away
from the material kingdom and pointed them to the spiritual
kingdom. He came as the King to set his prisoners
free. The Bible tells us that this
kingdom, the kingdom of the earth, the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom
of darkness, those who are in this kingdom, they are slaves
to sin and to Satan. They are bound captive in their
own sin. They are bound captive, as it
were, in their own kingdom. They will not have Christ to
reign over them. They are kings and queens of
their own kingdom, their own destiny. But Christ came to set
free those who were slaves to sin and to Satan. He came to
conquer Satan. He came to conquer the kingdom
of darkness and to release his people from those chains and
to bring them into the kingdom of light. They were filled with
self-righteousness. We see it in the Pharisees. As
Christ points them to this kingdom, this eternal kingdom, they are
filled with self-righteousness. They don't want another righteousness. They are pleased with themselves. They are living a life that they
believe is acceptable to God and that God will be pleased
with them and they don't want to leave their own little kingdom
and come to the kingdom of Christ. But Christ, by the power of his
spirit, he breaks down that self-righteous attitude like Nicodemus as he
came to the Lord Jesus, a leader of the Jews. And Jesus tells
him that you must be born again. It's no good. Continue on in that pathway of
knowledge and of self-righteousness. You must be born again to enter
into the spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their
hearts must be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit
to be broken open But it's a kingdom not for the self-righteous but
it's a kingdom for those who are seeking a righteousness that
is not their own. Jesus speaks in the Beatitudes
in Matthew chapter 5 of this kingdom. Blessed are the poor
in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Pharisees, self-righteous,
were not poor in spirit, they were rich in spirit. They were
rich in their own understanding of themselves and their own works.
Yet Christ said that those who will enter into my kingdom, those
who belong to my kingdom, are the poor in spirit. They have no righteousness of
their own. They have been bankrupted of all their own natural silver
and gold. their own works, their own goodness,
their own things that they treasured, that they believed would be an
offering to the Lord. They've been made bankrupt. They
are now poor and destitute. But theirs is the kingdom of
God. They've been made, as it were,
homeless. They are now strangers and pilgrims
in the kingdom of this world. and their home and their treasure
is in heaven above. Although they may be poor in
earthly estimations yet they are rich because their riches
are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed are the poor in spirit
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And this kingdom, as John the
Baptist began to preach, repent and be baptized every one of
you. As he began to preach repent
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. People's hearts were
changed. Multitudes came out. Multitudes
were baptized. Multitudes wanted, in the case
of John's preaching, a reformation of life, a turning away from
sin and a following of the ways of righteousness. Then came the
Lord Jesus Christ, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased, hear ye Him. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. And as Christ's preaching went
forth so the word was accompanied with the power of the Spirit
and there were those who were brought to repentance over their
sin. They left John and they followed
Jesus. The kingdom of heaven, this spiritual
kingdom was beginning to be established in the hearts of men. Remember
in Ezekiel it says, I will write my laws upon their hearts. I
will break open their hard hearts and give them a new heart. And as the preaching began, so
this spiritual kingdom was ushered in. and it began to be established
and even today it is still being established, even today it is
still growing. We read that the gates of hell
will not prevail against this kingdom. As the gospel goes forward
that no amount of opposition will be able to hinder the advancement
of this kingdom. No amount of opposition will
be able to hinder the advancement of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and multitudes are gathered in day by day, such as should
be saved. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. And so through the preaching
of John and Jesus and the apostles, this kingdom is almost laid siege
to As Jesus looked at the multitudes
who followed John, as Jesus looked at the multitudes who followed
him, it was as though the kingdom of God was being besieged. Multitudes came out. Multitudes
came to listen and to grasp, seek to grasp the truth. Yes, many of them were only following
the Lord Jesus for the miracles that he did. They were offended
by the words that he preached. Yet it was as though a great
army had come to lay siege to the kingdom of God. But as John
Jesus and the apostles preached the gospel of the kingdom. This
gospel door was swung open not only to Jew but also to Gentile. We read in the book of Revelation
that there is a number that no man can number of every nation,
of every kindred, of every tribe and of every tongue. And so even
today this vast number is being added to and even today the Kingdom
is having those added to it as the Gospel is preached, as the
Spirit goes forth and brings those to conviction of sin. And so it says, and from the
days of John the Baptist until now, Jesus says now is in his
time. But I think we can say even now,
in 2025, from the days of John the Baptist until now, The kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force. John the Baptist was that bridge
who spanned the old covenant and the new covenant. As he was
born, along came with him this new era of grace or the covenant
of grace through the preaching of the gospel. No longer was
God dealing with his own people as Jews but now those who sat
in darkness throughout the whole world are able to see the marvellous
light of the gospel. Paul says, well, now I'm going
to the Gentiles. And so the gospel goes forth
into all the world. and multitudes of every nation
and every tongue are brought to a salvation. Reading yesterday can be taken
in two ways this text. It can have the literal interpretation of the
violence that the early church experienced and that the church
has experienced throughout that time until now. John the Baptist,
he was crying in prison. Soon he would have his head chopped
off. He suffered violence. The Lord
Jesus Christ, despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief, suffered rejection and violence, hostility,
and then persecution and death. The apostles, as they preached
the gospel and took the gospel into all manner of places in
Europe The surrounding area were received with violence, opposition,
persecution and death. John, the Apostle John, we know
the only surviving or the one who died naturally yet even in
his life, violence, opposition, persecution, isolation, Jesus
said if they have done it unto me they will do it unto you. Throughout the history of the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ there has been opposition There
has been violent attacks. There has been hatred to the
sound of the gospel. Even in our own day there are
fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who have been martyred,
murdered, who have had to leave their families, had to leave
their houses, had to leave their countries. Even in our own land
there are people who have lost their jobs, there are people
who have been put in prison for preaching the gospel, there are
people who have been isolated from their own families, there
are people who walk in a solitary way because nobody wants to be
with them, all because of they belong to the kingdom of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They belong to the kingdom of
heaven. They are despised like their
master was despised. In our own country we are a shrinking
group of people. We are a people that are looked
down upon as ignorant and narrow-minded bigots. We do not accept the
way in which the country is going. And so because we don't accept,
we are isolated. And the more the country goes
away from God, goes away from Christ, the more the church will
become more and more isolated and Christians will experience
more violence at the kingdom of heaven. the Church of the
Lord Jesus Christ suffers violence and the violent are taken by
force. And so the Church has always
experienced opposition. And in times of peace we still have the opposition
of Satan. We still have the opposition
of our own flesh, the world and the difficulties that we face
day by day. And so the Christian walk, as
we are told, take up the whole armour of God. We are soldiers, warriors of
the Lord Jesus. And we're soldiers because we
have to experience opposition. And the kingdom that we are in
suffers violence. And those who are hostile to
the Lord Jesus Christ are anti-God. They are hostile to his people. They are violent to his people. We are pressed on every side. But also it has a spiritual meaning. the kingdom of Christ as it was
ushered in with the preaching of John and Jesus and the apostles.
There were those who were brought to conviction of their sin. There were those who were brought
to be in a desperate condition. The word of God affected them. It had a convicting power upon
their, a convicting effect upon their hearts. And they cried
out, what shall we do to be saved? They were brought to desperation. They had only one option and
that was to storm heaven and ask for mercy, to storm this
kingdom of light and to ask for mercy and their demeanour as
though they are violent because they would not let Christ go. If any of you have ever seen
desperate people they can come across as violent. Those who
have no food and you're offering out food aid. Those who have
no water and you're offering out money Children who've had
no sweets and you offer them out sweets in these third world
countries and you know it's chaos. Desperate people do desperate
things and they can come across as violent. But this word doesn't
necessarily mean violent as you and I take it with swords and
aggression. but it can mean pressed. Desperate people pressing on
every side of this kingdom. In Luke 16 and verse 16 the word
is translated here as pressed. verse 15, and he said unto them,
ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your
hearts, and that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination
in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were
unto John. Since that time the kingdom of
God is preached, and every man presseth into it, which is easier
for the heaven and earth to pass away than the title of the law
to fail. And so there they use the word
he presses into it. And so as John and Christ and
the apostles are preaching the gospel, the kingdom of God is
preached. Every man is pressed into it
in desperation, in desperation to enter. If we really think
for a moment of the consequences of not being in this kingdom,
if we really think of the consequences of remaining in the kingdom of
darkness, the end of that kingdom is the
wrath of God. But such is the hardness of our
hearts and the unbelief that we feel that the words don't
affect us. But we're able to stay in a melancholy
state and an ease state when we hear about hell. We do not
respond with desperation and as it were violence to get out
of that kingdom. If we were on a ship and the
ship was sinking And there was only one door out of that ship. Every single person would be
streaming to that opening. Every single person would be
fighting to get through that door to escape the sinking ship. that when we hear of the kingdom
of heaven and we hear of this spiritual kingdom and the need
of entering into that kingdom for salvation, the need of having
the Lord Jesus Christ as our saviour and to escape the wrath
to come, to escape the kingdom of darkness, we just continue
sitting and waiting. But the scripture tells us to
strive to enter into the gate, the gate of this kingdom, the
gate, the doorway of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so striving and violence and desperation all fit to those who are seeking
to enter into this kingdom. Oh that we may be brought to
that desperate state to realise our great danger of
remaining in the kingdom of darkness And as Jesus says, he that has
ears to hear, let him hear. In war there are two sides normally. And you can defect or you can
swap sides. You can desert. In fact, all of those who are
in the kingdom of Christ have deserted the kingdom of Satan. They have thought, well, this
is not my home. I don't belong in this kingdom anymore. And
they're brought to enter into the kingdom of light, to sit
under the authority and kingship of their saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so they walk away from that
kingdom. They abandon their post in which
maybe they stood for many, many years, enjoying themselves in
this kingdom of darkness, but only to realise at the end of
this kingdom is destruction, that this kingdom will one day
be cast completely into hell itself and to be destroyed forever
and ever. But the kingdom of light is an
eternal kingdom that will continue for all eternity. And so the scripture tells us
in, as I've said already in Luke, to strive to enter into this
kingdom. My mind, as I was thinking about,
went to the book of Jeremiah. You know, Jeremiah, as he prophesied
regarding Jerusalem and the destruction coming from Babylon, the Lord
gave him a message. Jeremiah 38. From verse 2 it says, And thus
saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the
sword, by famine, and by pestilence. But he that goeth forth to the
Chaldean shall live, for he shall have his life as a prey, or a
spoil from war, and shall live. If you take this in a gospel
sense, those who remain in the city, those who remain in the
city of this world, this world that is passing away, that is
being besieged by the kingdom of light. Those who remain in
this city, they will die. They will die by famine, by sword,
by pestilence. But he that goes forth, he that
goes out of the city, and comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, he
shall have his life as a prior spoil of war, his life shall
be spared and he shall live. That was the command given or
the word of the Lord given to the people of Jerusalem. If you stay in the city you're
going to die but if you go out of the city and surrender then
you will live. the king he refused. He was too
proud. He didn't want to humble himself
and to admit defeat and to surrender so he refused the word of the
Lord. And how it is today that people still refuse the word
of the Lord. They know what is to be done. to go out of the city. They know
that there's safety in the Lord Jesus Christ. They know that
there's safety in the kingdom of light. They know that there's
an eternal kingdom in which they may enter into, that they may
strive to enter into and yet they don't. They say they're
too ashamed. verse 20. And Jeremiah said,
they shall not deliver thee. He came up with an excuse as
to why he shouldn't go out of the city, that the Jews who had
already surrendered, they would mock him. Jeremiah said, they
shall not deliver thee. Obey I beseech thee, the voice
of the Lord, which I speak unto thee. So it shall be well unto
thee, and thy soul shall live. But if thou refuse to go forth,
this is the word that the Lord hath showed me. Obey, I beseech thee. Jeremiah believed the word of
the Lord exactly. He believed that what God had
said would take place. And so he begged the people,
he begged the king, listen to me, listen to what I am saying
to you. If you remain in the city, you
will die. But if you flee, you will live. Same as Sodom and Gomorrah with
Lot. If they remained in the city,
they would live if they would die sorry. Such was the hardness
of his heart he had to be dragged out of the city and scaped as
it were by the skin of his teeth by the mercy of God he is brought. Jacob he says I will not let
thee go except thou bless me. There was the lady who came to
the Lord Jesus Christ also and around the Lord Jesus Christ
was a multitude of people. The hymn says doesn't it, a crowd
about him will be found night and day. Well she came to the
Lord Jesus Christ and there was a crowd round about him. And
she must press through that crown. There is that persistence, that
desperation, that almost violence to get what she wanted. What did she need? She needed
her sickness to be healed, her issue of blood to be stopped.
And she pressed through the crown and she laid hold of the garment
of the Lord Jesus Christ and she was healed. There was that
persistence, perseverance, desperation to get what she needed to get.
And has that been with us? Have we had that persistence
at the throne of grace? What is it that you truly need? Surely it is the forgiveness
of your sin. What you truly need compared
to anything in this world is the forgiveness of your sin.
Has there been that desperation? the throne of God? Have you stormed
the gates of heaven like a soldier besieging a city in desperation? Have you come like Jacob? I will not let thee go except
or unless thou bless me. From the days of John until now
The kingdom has suffered violence and the violent take it by force.
There's been persistence. Those who are convicted of their
sin must strive to enter into that kingdom and the door, the
scripture tells us the door will be open. The lady who came to the unjust
judge, she persisted. And Jesus said, didn't he, that the Father would give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask of Him. If ye, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
of Him? What do you need? You need the forgiveness of sin.
and you need the Holy Spirit to indwell in you and Christ
has said strive to enter in at the gate. Christ has said to
ask the Father for the Holy Spirit and he will give him. Christ
has said persist, be determined at the throne of grace. We have a saying that the grass
is always greener on the other side. And sheep, as they're in
a field, they always try to get out and to them it seems that
the other side of the fence is greener than the field that they're
in. And we know it's just exactly
the same. But the grass is greener in this
kingdom. The grass is greener on the other
side. In the darkness, the kingdom of darkness, it is a kingdom
that has an end. It will not continue. It may
look more attractive now, but one day it will be finished and
rolled up. But the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God, the
kingdom of heaven, is an eternal kingdom that will never fade
away and the grass is always greener in that kingdom. From the days of John the Baptist
until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, desperation
for those seeking to enter into it. desperation of those who
have been brought to the conviction of their sins, desperation of
those who have seen that the grass is greener on that side
and there's a persistence in their prayer that they must persevere
until they receive the answer that their sins which are so
many have been washed away, that they have been brought with an
everlasting love that they're able to enter in to that kingdom
for they've been granted the gift of the Holy Spirit which
is the seal or the passport of that kingdom. And the king of
that kingdom is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ
is a living king. Yes, we cannot see him, but he
is there, seated at the right hand of the king of kings, his
father. All power and all authority has
been given to this king, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this king,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is going to come again. And he hears the
sinners cry. but also he takes notice of the
saints' tears. And there are times, aren't there,
like John the Baptist, we're brought to those times of tears,
those times of doubts, those times of fears, and we lay siege,
as it were, to heaven by prayer. We cry out, like Jacob, as I
said, we will not let thee go. We need that confirmation that
Christ is with us. We need that confirmation that
we have his spirit. We need that confirmation that
our sins are forgiven. And we want that word of blessing. Go and show John again. might
be today you receive that again. Yes you've been blessed before
but you may receive a blessing of the Lord that Christ looks
upon you and says go and show my beloved child again how much
I love them. Go and show them that all of
these things were done for them. all His marvellous works, all
His wonderful triumph on the cross, His resurrection from
the grave and His ascension into heaven, that all of this was
done for you, for one of His beloved sheep. And may the Spirit
convict those who are still in the darkness, may He convict
you to lay siege heaven itself by prayer and to know to not
let him go until he blesses you with that confirmation your sins
which are so many have been washed away. I may the Lord add his
blessing. Amen. this afternoon's service will
be at 3pm. Our closing hymn is hymn number
90 from Hymns of Worship. Holy Spirit help us while we
sing, breathe into the music of the praise we sing. Hymn number
90 from Hymns of Worship, tune 951. ? While we sing ? ? Breathe into
the music ? ? Of the great scene ? ? Holy Spirit prompt us ? ? When
we bow to pray ? ? Ne'er accounting teach us ? what we ought to say. Holy Spirit, shine thou on the
book we read. Shine upon its pages with the
light Holy Spirit give us each a lowly
mind. Make us more like Jesus, gentle,
pure, and kind. Holy Spirit help us. Holy Spirit lead us to the home
of God. Dear Lord and Almighty God, we
thank Thee for the Kingdom of Light, for the Kingdom of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray that we each may be brought to
strive to enter into that Kingdom, that we may find eternal life.
We ask that Thou be with us in the interval of worship. Bless us each, we pray. And now
by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the
Father, With the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit,
do rest and abide with us each now and for evermore. Amen.